‘He never should have been on the hook at all, Jack,’ I said. ‘He came here with ten grand birthday money. When that was gone he should have been finished.’
‘You wouldn’t have given him any credit?’
‘None.’
‘Because he’s Jerry’s cousin?’
‘Because he’s a kid,’ I said. ‘Where’s he going to get the money to pay up?’
‘When has that ever been our problem?’
‘It’s our problem to show good judgment,’ I said. ‘I OK credit to people I know are going to be able to pay up. Otherwise, I’m gambling with the casino’s money. And that’s not my job. And it ain’t Mike Dotelli’s job, either.’
‘All right,’ Entratter said, sitting back in his chair. ‘I’ll have a talk with Mike but there’s no way I can let the kid off the hook.’
‘Just give him time to pay, Jack.’
‘He’ll have all the time he needs, Eddie. I’m not lookin’ to break the legs attached to any of Jerry’s relatives.’
‘No,’ I said, ‘I guess not.’
‘Can Jerry keep him under control from here on in?’ Jack asked. ‘Or maybe take him home?’
‘I’ll talk to him.’
‘We can keep him away from our tables, but if he goes somewhere else. .’
‘I get it, Jack,’ I said. ‘I’ll talk to Jerry, see what he wants to do.’
Jack nodded, stood up.
‘Come on, I’ll go down with you. I wanna walk the floor.’
‘I’m gonna take Abby to dinner,’ I said. ‘Then I’ll hit the floor.’
‘Good, good.’
On the way to the elevators he said, ‘I know you don’t think Dotelli was ready, Eddie, but mark my words, he’ll make a good pit boss.’
‘I don’t doubt it, Jack,’ I said, ‘in a few years, maybe.’
He took the elevator down to the floor, while I took it up to Jerry’s suite.
‘Where’s Billy?’ I asked, when he let me in.
‘In his room,’ Jerry said. ‘He’s pissed I won’t let him leave.’
‘I’m taking Abby to dinner,’ I said. ‘She’s going stir crazy in her room. You wanna come?’
‘I’d really like to meet her,’ he said, ‘but Billy’ll just go back downstairs. If I don’t sit on ’im.’
‘If he does he won’t be able to play.’ I told him about my talk with the pit boss, and with Entratter.
‘Thanks, Mr G. I wouldn’t expect Mr Entratter to let him off the hook,’ Jerry said. ‘And I’ll sure as hell see that he makes good on the debt.’
‘I know you will.’
‘Hold on,’ he said. ‘I’ll talk to the kid and then I’ll come to dinner with you and Miss Dalton.’
‘Good. I want her to know that you helped get her photos back.’
‘Just let me scare the shit out of Billy, first,’ he said.
TWENTY-FOUR
We picked Abby up at her room. Jerry acted like a shy kid when we met her, and she was very nice to him. She had put on a silk blouse, tight black skirt and heels.
‘I figured we weren’t going anywhere really fancy.’
‘Just downstairs,’ I said, ‘unless you want to go somewhere else.’
‘No, that’s fine,’ she said. ‘I just wanted to get out of my room.’
‘We could take in the show at the Copa Room, if you like,’ I said. ‘Tony Bennett.’
‘No, really, that’s all right,’ she said. ‘I don’t think I’d be able to enjoy it. Let’s just go and eat.’
‘OK.’
We took her down to the Garden Room and over dinner she asked Jerry a lot of questions about himself. He answered them as best he could, without really telling her what he did.
Over dessert I thought of a way to tell her how we got Irwin to part with the photos.
‘We should be able to get them for you tomorrow.’
‘Do you need more money?’
‘No’ I said, ‘he should take the five grand.’
‘I don’t know how to thank you.’ She looked at Jerry. ‘Both of you.’
‘Thank us tomorrow, when we hand you the photos,’ I told her.
She suddenly looked troubled by something.
‘Uh, Eddie. .’
‘Yes?’
‘You’re not going to. . oh, never mind.’
‘We’re not going to what?’ I asked. ‘Look at the photos before we bring them to you?’
She nodded.
‘I ain’t gonna look at ’em at all, Miss Dalton,’ Jerry said. ‘And Mr G. is only gonna look to make sure they’re the right ones.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean-’
‘It’s OK,’ I said. ‘Don’t worry about it.’
‘Jerry,’ she said, ‘you can call me Abby, you know.’
‘No,’ I said, ‘he can’t.’
In the end he was calling her Miss D.
We talked a bit about JFK, his presidency, and his assassination, and then we walked her back up to her room. On the way I offered one more time to take her to see Tony Bennett.
‘Thanks,’ she said, ‘but I think I’ll just turn in early. When you hand me those pictures tomorrow I’ll head back to Hollywood. I need to get back to work or Joey might divorce me.’
‘Hey, that’s funny,’ Jerry said. He looked at me. ‘See, Joey’s got the same name on the show-’
‘I know, Jerry.’
When Abby closed the door and left us standing in the hall Jerry said, ‘You wanna go inside with her, Mr G.? I can go downstairs. .’
‘No, Jerry,’ I said, ‘Abby and me, we don’t have that kind of relationship. Let’s go check on Billy.’
‘OK, Mr G.’
Billy was gone.
‘Goddamnit!’ Jerry raged. He stormed around the suite. ‘What the hell-’
‘Maybe he just went downstairs.’
‘I thought I scared the hell outta that boy!’
‘Well,’ I said, ‘he’s your cousin. If he’s anything like you — and I mean, beyond the physical — then he doesn’t scare easy.’
That seemed to mollify him a bit. He stopped pacing and stared at me.
‘You might be right about that, Mr G.’ He sat down heavily on the sofa. ‘But where did he go?’
‘If he went downstairs he’s not going to be able to play,’ I reminded him.
‘But what if he goes somewhere else?’
‘They won’t give him any credit,’ I said. ‘What’s he going to play with?’
‘Oh shit!’ He sprang up off the sofa and ran into one of the bedrooms. ‘Crap!’ he shouted, and ran back out. ‘He took the five grand I stashed for you.’
‘Abby’s money?’
He nodded.
‘If he gambles five grand and loses, somebody’ll give him more on credit. And then I’ll have to tell Abby something.’
‘I gotta find him, Mr G.’
‘Before he spends Abby’s money.’
‘If he does,’ Jerry said, ‘I’ll make it good, Mr G. I’ll pay her back. But I gotta find ’im.’
‘OK,’ I said, ‘let’s go.’
TWENTY-FIVE
We searched the Sands first, but there was no sign of Billy. I took Jerry to meet Mike Dotelli, for two reasons. I wanted to hear from Mike if he’d seen Billy again. And I wanted Jerry to know who had screwed with his cousin.
I waved Mike out from behind the pit.
‘What now?’ he asked.
‘This is Jerry,’ I said. ‘It’s his cousin you put in a seventy grand hole today.’
Jerry glowered at Dotelli, who reared back a bit.
‘H-he put himself in a hole.’
‘He’s a kid,’ Jerry said, ‘You never should have okayed him. If I ever hear that you do it again, I’ll come back and tear your arms off. Am I clear?’
‘What? Clear?’ Mike looked at me for help. ‘Is he serious?’
‘Dead serious,’ I said.
‘Jesus.’ Mike looked at Jerry. ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s clear.’
‘OK, then,’ I said. ‘Have you seen him again today? In the past hour, maybe?’
‘Yeah,’ Mike said, ‘yeah, he came back down, tried to play some more.’
‘Did you let him?’ Jerry demanded.
‘N-no, no,’ Mike said. He looked at me again. ‘Jack came down and read me the riot act. No more credit for kids. And he said not to let this particular kid play anymore, even with cash.’
‘OK,’ I said, ‘so where did he go?’
‘I don’t know,’ Mike said. ‘He left, Eddie. He just. . left.’
‘Damn it!’ Jerry said. ‘He’s gonna try another casino.’